


Asking the Right Questions

by Skyler10



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Pete's World, Romance, Telepathic Bond, Telepathy, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 14:12:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3853585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyler10/pseuds/Skyler10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and Tentoo finally get to know one another in the biblical sense, but first, he surprises her with talk of commitment and an explanation as to why he's waited so long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Asking the Right Questions

**Author's Note:**

> Medical warning: Excessive sugary fluff/eventual smut may cause cavities among other health hazards. Also may contain cheese. You have been warned.

_"Spend the night with me?"_

After an eternity of increasingly high quality snogging, Rose finally asks. She's been wanting to for ages, but the awkwardness of getting to know each other again unfortunately combined itself with their old habit of pushing aside their feelings to focus on the situation at hand. They had progressed to having regular kissing spots and times the way couples do, but still retreated to separate bedrooms each night.

It was only through a weird twist of fate they had a two-bedroom flat to begin with. A fellow agent at Torchwood needed a roommate right when Rose showed up in this universe and Pete thought it would be good for her. Jackie agreed and that was that. Rose stayed when the other girl transferred to Scotland. She never moved or got a new roommate because she assumed it was only temporary anyway. Any day now, the next jump perhaps, she'd be back on the TARDIS.

The possibility of the Doctor being here, leaning against her door frame as she climbed into bed, never occurred to her back then. But here he was now, rambling on about whatever popped into his head, stalling their "goodnight."

"Doctor? Wanna stay in here tonight?"

"Nightmares back again, love?" The compassion in his voice melted her on the spot. And confirmed her decision.

"No, just want you here. Your room is too far away." She mock-pouted, letting a little smile slip as his eyes lit up.

A smirk played on his lips as he swaggered forward. She would have to do something about those lips. He was far too proud of his "foxy" self for what she had in mind.

He joined her in bed a little too eagerly and his jimjam trousers slipped down just as his soft T-shirt rolled up, giving Rose the perfect opportunity to run her fingers across his bare skin. He rewarded her with an excellent snog, but she wanted to be very clear about all her invitation had included. She ran her tongue across his bottom lip and he opened in enthusiastic greeting. They dueled for oral dominance for a few minutes and soon he was moaning into her mouth. She preened a bit at her kissing skills before she realized where her hand had traveled of its own accord. The revealed skin of his hip had been long abandoned for his still-clothed thigh and bum, which her fingers were exploring at will. He retaliated by moving his hand in the opposite direction, from her hip to her breast. It was her turn to moan as he gently but confidently massaged her where he had only shyly brushed over before. She built up her courage for the ultimate test. She purposely let her hand wander from his thigh to his front. She smiled against his lips as she found what she was hoping for.

"Good, glad we're on the same page as to where this is going," she teased.

"Rose," he moaned her name, but then shocked her by backing away. "Wait. There's something.... Stop. Rose. We have to talk."

She ceased chasing his lips and sat up in concern.

"What's wrong, babe? I thought... Oh god. I'm so sorry." She realized she could have been mistaken after all. Maybe he wasn't ready. And here he was being seduced and groped by her. Then again, his hands were none too timid either.

"No, it's not that. I do... want this. There's just something you should know first."

Rose gave him a naughty smirk.

"Not like that." He rolled his eyes.

"Ah. Thought you were going to give me a Gallifreyan biology lesson or something."

"Is that..." He attempted to read her expression. "You are! You're disappointed. Rose Tyler, you're the only woman I know who would actually be disappointed her lover doesn't have strange alien anatomy." He winked and she relaxed a bit. If he was teasing her, she was sure whatever he had to tell her at least wasn't terribly bad.

"You can't blame me, really," she explained patiently. "I've simply been curious for many years and in that time my mind has imagined every possibility."

"Many years?" he echoed and waggled his eyebrows. "And yes, it's completely understandable considering all the lifeforms we've seen that you would wonder. But nope, all humanoid here. Not what I was going to warn you about."

"Warn me?" Rose's flirting faltered as she remembered why they had stopped their frankly magnificent snogging session.

"Well, I'm all on board here. Obviously." He cleared his throat and nodded to his lap. "But you need to know... this isn't a casual or common thing for me. It can't be just a normal shag with someone I love. I'm still Time Lord up here after all." He tapped his temple and she nodded to indicate she was following so far. "And it's not in our nature to just do..."

"Your companions?" she supplied, a little bit of that naughty smirk creeping back up.

"Well, yes," he chuckled. "That too. And Rassilon, was it difficult resisting with you. But I mean, I don't usually do this at all. With anyone. And it has certain consequences when I feel about someone the way I feel about you."

"For the record, it was difficult not jumping you too." Her little pink tongue stuck out the side of her grin and he looked as if he might abandon this conversation altogether in favor of licking it again. But he fought through and cleared his throat. He inhaled deeply as he took her hands in his and rubbed light circles across her skin.

"Rose, when a Time Lord makes love, it is to his mate. His, well, his wife. I know it isn't the same for you. And that's alright! But you should know that doing this, in my mind, is akin to your definition of marriage. Or more than that really. We'd... uh... we'd be bonded for life, deeper than any rings or vows. But we can still do all that! If you want. In fact, I'd rather like to someday... if that's something you would..."

She sat in silence for a bit, processing all he had shared. Her lips parted and she exhaled a little "wow." That explained a lot, in her mind and memories. He was about to withdraw, afraid he had overwhelmed her, when she spoke.

"Do you want to wait? Until we're married? Because I will. Whatever you need."

"You do want to get married? Properly, I mean?" He grinned unashamedly.

"If that's your way of proposing we're going to have to come up with another story." She rolled her eyes. "What will we tell the grandkids?"

"Grandkids!" He barked out a delighted laugh. "You want a family with me?"

"Well. Can we?"

"We can have as many little ones as your heart desires, my darling."

She laughed and clarified.

"I meant, are we able to? Like biologically?"

"Ah. Good question. Always asking the best questions, you. Yes. At least I think so. Now we can. This me. Couldn't before when I was, well, you know..."

He tugged on his ear lobe and she pulled him closer, understanding what he meant. Before. When he was fully Time Lord. When they lived inside a TARDIS instead of growing one.

"Then that's one more thing we have to be grateful for."

"I love you," he mumbled into her hair and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too," she replied against his chest. She paused a moment before continuing. "So about that marriage discussion? You weren't seriously proposing in bed?"

His chest shook as he chuckled.

"Ohhhhh, no. When I do, Rose Tyler, you will certainly know it. And have a story to tell any potential descendants we may have."

Her heart bubbled over with happiness at his "when," remembering a conversation a long time ago that had included the words "the curse of the Time Lords," explaining why they would never have this. She shook herself out of sad memories and tried to focus on the present. Like why they were still dressed.

"You never answered my question," she reminded him and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Are we waiting to have a ceremony first?"

"Mmmm. Don't think I could wait that long," he hummed. Rose made a mental entry to her list she secretly titled "How to Turn On a Time Lord." She was sure he sensed that she was getting dangerously good at it, too. But he had something serious to tell her and had been just as expertly avoiding it, putting centuries of practice into use.

"Doctor? Just tell me. Whatever it is, it's alright. I promise."

"Oh, Rose. You shouldn't say things like that," he sighed. "This... tonight will be like marriage for me because it's mental as well as physical. I can't help it. If, when, we do this, it forms a bit of a telepathic bond."

Her eyes widened and he rushed to explain. She had seen enough of his telepathy to factor it into her fantasizing, but had no idea how that would play out in real life.

"It's not.. We don't share everything we think. It's just when we both choose to use it. And only when we touch. But it's the most intimate thing a Time Lord can do. That's why it's more binding than marriage. It lasts forever."

She had never felt more honored. He wanted this with her. He could have fallen for anyone in all of time and space. And here he was, part-human and in her bed, choosing a life with her day after day. 'Til death do them part.

"That's why we never... before?" she dared to ask. "On the TARDIS?"

"Yeah. Oh, how I wanted to. But you understand why I couldn't?"

She nodded and he anticipated her next question before she could vocalize it.

"And why have we waited until now? That kind of commitment... Well. Permanence. I didn't want to pressure you. We've been getting to know each other again."

"It's been good," she agreed. "Taking it slow. However. I'd like to get even better acquainted if you do..." Their seriousness melted away as their flirtations resumed.

"Oh yes," he assured with a manic grin. It faded quickly though as he revealed the next step. He leaned over her and she rolled onto her back. He took in her vulnerability, her trust and love, on display for him alone. He ran his fingers through her hair and brushed a soft kiss to her lips. "You're sure?"

"Yes. I'm yours, Doctor. Forever," she reassured for the hundredth time in their lives.

He looked as if he might break into song or tears of joy or combust with love.

"Let me just..." He lifted his fingers to her temples, which was not really needed as so much of their bodies were already touching, but it was a gesture of familiarity from their more dangerous travels. She knew, however, that this time would be different than ever before when he was just checking her mind as a literal "doctor."

She closed her eyes and nodded once in consent, exhaling a shaky breath that hit his shoulder. He shivered and lowered his barriers, slipping into her mind infinitely more gently than he had slipped into her bed.

"God, Rose," he groaned. "You feel so good."

She held back a giggle at the sensuality of his words, but gasped as the sensation hit her. He was there. In her head. Wrapping her in a mental blanket of protection and pledging his own "forever." Projecting love and desire and _yes more_.

She wasn't sure whose request it was, but she decided to take things into her own hands. Literally. He might be the master of the mental realm, but she was fully human and planned to use it to her advantage. Her hands resumed their earlier exploration of uncharted lands.

 _"Bad, bad little wolf,"_ he purred into her mind. _"Here I am trying to be a... a gentleman... ease us into this... oh Rose..."_

So she held the power to render him speechless even telepathically. Interesting. She would have to examine that in more detail later.

 _"You're perfect,"_ she sent back, experimenting with their new communication method. She meant it to be a quip about being a perfect gentleman, but as soon as she started speaking, he had taken it upon himself to empathically inform her of the status of his arousal. He rutted his hips against hers in emphasis and she decided it was time for jimjams to come off.

 _"Far too warm in here for these,"_ she explained, a bit more confident in speaking to him like this after his response.

She tugged his shirt off and let her eyes roam over his chest. She sent him a wave of appreciation, strengthening when she allowed her gaze to travel past his waistband. He let out a soft Gallifreyan curse.

"You..." he whispered. "How? You're responding? And... projecting on purpose."

"Dunno. Just... keep doing that," she sighed, referencing both his mental touches and his hands, now under her shirt.

_"My brilliant Rose."_

She picked up from his signals that it should have been much more difficult for her as a human to communicate back to him. She chalked it up to Bad Wolf, as she had learned to do in her life with him. She would have said so, but through their bond, she felt him shake off his curiosity and accept the blessing of how easy it had been for her. For now. She knew he would probe more into the matter later.

Much later. First, she had an agenda that included him focused on her and them and only the activities between these sheets.

He surprised her by quickly disposing of her top and launching it triumphantly across the room. He sat up, straddling her hips, and shot her a mischievous smile. Even without their bond, she knew that look. She had seen it hundreds of times. He was about to lick something to satisfy his boundless curiosity. Something brand new that he very much wanted to analyze, sample, taste...

OH.

The realization knocked the wind out of her. In all of her (numerous) fantasies, somehow she had never quite imagined that familiar expression being directed at her, about her. Her stomach flipped in anticipation. His fingers were tucked into the sides of her cotton shorts and he was waiting for her confirmation.

 _"Yes. Please, yes,"_ she sent. She nodded emphatically in case she wasn't as good at navigating their bond as she thought.

He growled (!) and pulled off her shorts and knickers in one go.

 _"Oh well, I guess there is always next time for impressing him with sexy lingerie,"_ she thought, unconsciously projecting it to him as well. She realized her mistake as he quirked an eyebrow and searched the floor for a glimpse of the underwear he had so quickly tossed away. She blushed and bit her lip, which helped him focus more intently on the task at hand. (Again, literally.)

At this too he was exceedingly gentle. An internal war raged between two sides of her: the turn-on lust-clouded woman who was desperate for more of him and the woman who adored each touch, who still couldn't believe her luck, who wanted to cry her thanks to the universe for allowing them this. The latter won for the time being, cherishing each moment as he brought her higher and higher with his fingers, his lips, his tongue... But then he sped up of his accord (or sensing her need) and she heard her own voice calling out his name interspersed with much affirmation and a little begging.

 _"Come for me, my darling,"_ he coaxed through their link.

She did.

\------

Rose's lips parted as she floated down. She panted for a few seconds, then opened her eyelids and uncurled her toes. She basked in the glow, in the buzz of their bond, in the hungry and yet self-satisfied dark eyes staring back into hers.

His tongue snuck out to lick the moisture from his lips and she nearly came again right there. Never had she experienced something so intense and immediately craved more. There was no comparison. Not to any past boys or food or drink or high. She had never been an addict before, but she knew one hit was all it took. So be it. The Doctor was already her addiction: flying into trouble with him, holding him, loving him. It was always there, causing her to leave everything and everyone else behind no matter who she hurt. But now, oh now, she could have him without the guilt, the strict boundaries, the dancing around what they-were-but-weren't.

And she could never go back. Would never want to. All she wanted was him. In her bed, in her life, in her mind, in her body.

At that thought, she snaked a hand down his torso to the waistband of his pajamas. He wiggled his hips, indicating his readiness to be rid of them. She carefully pulled them down enough for him to kick them off. She traced a fingernail lightly down the front of his straining pants, making him inhale sharply.

 _"Rose, please,"_ he whimpered into her mind. __"I haven't done this in...a... very, very-long-time."__

 __S__ he took pity on him, despite his slow pace on her earlier. It occurred to her that she hadn't been able to keep up her mental barriers during the height of pleasure and she wondered 1. that he was still holding on and 2. how it would be for her when it was his turn. She set out to find out, wetting her lips at the thought.

She conquered the last scrap of fabric separating them and took a minute to appreciate his very humanoid, not-strange-or-alien-looking anatomy. She smiled at her silliness for imagining anything different and met his eyes to avoid ogling him too long. He seemed a tad nervous at her reaction and she kicked herself for not saying her line sooner.

 ___"Not disappointed, my gorgeous alien. Quite the opposite."_ __ She kissed him and reached down between their bodies to caress his arousal.

 ___"That's good to hear, my sexy, sexy human. Because I think you're going to like this next part."_ __ He pressed her back down and crawled on top with legs between hers and arms on either side of her head to support himself as he admired her.

She aligned their bodies, but let him take the final step, needing that final assurance that he wanted this as much as she did. He pushed into her slowly but without hesitation, then pulled back and in again. He sent waves of encouragement through their bond in time with his thrusts, making it easy for her to meet his rhythm. Their rhythm. It was romantic and sweet until the "next part" that he had mentioned came into play. The disintegration of barriers and self-consciousness and fear unleashed a freedom of intimacy that radiated throughout every millimeter of their bodies and minds. Rose was suddenly grateful that she had her entire life to get to know this man this way because she felt she could spend eternity exploring all of him.

He felt it too. He picked up the pace, driving into her more forcefully.

 ___"Doctor, love, I need..."_ __ She didn't even have time to form the thought before he was rebalancing on one hand as the other snaked between them to touch her where she needed him most. She groaned loudly and he kissed her breathless.

 ___"Rose, can you feel it? How much I love you?"_ __ He was trembling, even in his mind.

 __"I love you!"__ she cried out as she came again, cresting over the edge. He had one more trick up his metaphorical sleeve, however, and was just barely coherent enough to initiate it. He lowered the remaining barrier to his physical sensations and his pleasure in her flooded her mind. She hardly registered that she was screaming his name as she rode the high.

Some part of her remained grounded enough to keep meeting his body with hers, and his own orgasm ripped through both of them with a grand finale.

"ROSE!" Her name was being shouted aloud and was bursting with color in her mind and thrumming through the euphoria in her entire body as her walls convulsed around him.

He barely caught himself from landing heavily on her as his arms gave out. They drew each other close and exchanged sloppy, uncoordinated kisses until the hazy bliss of their lovemaking subsided.

"Incredible," he breathed in awe, settling next to her.

"Yeah," she exhaled shakily. "I've never... not like that... wow."

"THAT is my new favorite thing in the multiverse. Sex with Rose Tyler." He cursed in Gallifreyan under his breath as he took in her mussed hair, swollen lips and still-heaving chest.

"Sure beats the boring weddings I've been to," she teased, pressing random, lazy kisses to his jaw and throat.

"Wha... OH." She could almost visualize the light bulb turning on. He had already forgotten. All that Time Lord talk of marital bonds... For some reason, the idea that she had shagged serious thought out of his brilliant mind pleased her to no end.

" _Husband_ ," she sent down her fingertips through his skin and into his consciousness.

"Wife," he whispered aloud. "My wife." Tears welled up in her eyes at the wonder-filled way he said the words but she held them back.

"Rose? There's just one more secret I have to share before we're properly bonded. A secret only you can know. No one else in the universe."

"Your name?" she mouthed the question, unable to say the words aloud.

He smiled softly and leaned close as he could to her ear. As he whispered the foreign syllables, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Neither could he. They laughed and kissed through the night until they fell asleep in each other's arms, not yet wed or even engaged in the shallow eyes of the world but in truth, bonded in mind and spirit for eternity. Dresses and rings and cake would come later. For now, this was all they needed.


End file.
